Montgomeryshire Genealogical Records

Montgomeryshire Birth & Baptism Records

An index to births registered throughout England & Wales. Provides a reference to order copies of birth certificates from the national registrar of births, marriages and deaths – the General Register Office.

Digital images of baptism registers that can be searched by name. They record baptisms, which typically occur shortly after birth, and list the baptised's name, date of birth and/or baptism and parents' names. They may also list where the parents lived, their occupations and occasionally other details.

Digital images of baptism registers that can be searched by name. They record baptisms, which typically occur shortly after birth, and list the baptised's name, date of birth and/or baptism and parents' names. They may also list where the parents lived, their occupations and occasionally other details.

Montgomeryshire Marriage & Divorce Records

An index to marriages registered throughout England & Wales. This is the only national marriage index that allows you to search by both spouse's names. Provides a reference to order copies of marriage certificates from the national registrar of births, marriages and deaths – the General Register Office.

Digital images of marriage registers that can be searched by name. They contain written records of marriages and typically record the name of the bride and groom and date of marriage. They may also record occupations, residences, fathers' names, witnesses and other information about the marriage.

Digital images of marriage registers that can be searched by name. They contain written records of marriages and typically record the name of the bride and groom and date of marriage. They may also record occupations, residences, fathers' names, witnesses and other information about the marriage.

Montgomeryshire Death & Burial Records

An index to deaths registered throughout England & Wales. Provides a reference to order copies of death certificates from the national registrar of births, marriages and deaths – the General Register Office.

Digital images of burial registers that can be searched by name. They contain records of burials, which typically occur a few days after death, and record the name of the deceased and date of death and/or burial. They may also list where the deceased lived, their age, names of relations, occupation and occasionally other details.

Digital images of burial registers that can be searched by name. They contain records of burials, which typically occur a few days after death, and record the name of the deceased and date of death and/or burial. They may also list where the deceased lived, their age, names of relations, occupation and occasionally other details.

Montgomeryshire Church Records

Digital images of registers that record baptisms, which typically occur shortly after birth; marriages and burials. The registers can be searched by name and can help establish links between individuals back to the 16th century.

Digital images of registers that record baptisms, which typically occur shortly after birth; marriages and burials. The registers can be searched by name and can help establish links between individuals back to the 16th century.

Montgomeryshire Census & Population Lists

The 1911 census provides details on an individual's age, residence, place of birth, relations and occupation. FindMyPast's index allows searches on for multiple metrics including occupation and residence.

The 1901 census provides details on an individual's age, residence, place of birth, relations and occupation. FindMyPast's index allows searches on for multiple metrics including occupation and residence.

The 1891 census provides details on an individual's age, residence, place of birth, relations and occupation. FindMyPast's index allows searches on for multiple metrics including occupation and residence.

Montgomeryshire Wills & Probate Records

Searchable index and original images of over 12.5 million probates and administrations granted by civil registries. Entries usually include the testator's name, date of death, date of probate and registry. Names of relations may be given.

A index to testators whose will was proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. They principally cover those who lived in the lower two thirds of Britain, but contain wills for residents of Scotland, Ireland, British India and other countries. A copy of each will may be purchased for digital download.

Pigot's is a directory briefly detailing the history, topography, amenities and postal service of settlements in North Wales. It also lists the occupation & addresses of commercial, private and professional residents of each town.

From the late 18th century many prisoners in Britain were kept on decommissioned ships known as hulks. This collection contains nearly 50 years of registers for various ships. Details given include: prisoner's name, date received, age, year of birth and conviction details.

This collection lists brief details on 1.55 million criminal cases in England and Wales between 1791 and 1892. Its primary use is to locate specific legal records, which may give further details on the crime and the accused. Details may include the accused's age, nature of crime, location of trial and sentence. Early records can contain a place of birth.

An index to over 515,000 names listed in criminal registers, which have been digitally reproduced. Numerous details are included, such as age, occupation and details of crimes. Includes records for prison ships, the Central Criminal Court, Home Office trials, the Metropolitan Police and the Prison Commission.

Montgomeryshire Taxation Records

This vital collection details almost 1.2 million properties eligible for land tax. Records include the name of the landowner, occupier, amount assessed and sometimes the name and/or description of the property. It is a useful starting point for locating relevant estate records and establishing the succession of tenancies and freehold. Most records cover 1798, but some extend up to 1811.

An index to wills and administrations that incurred a death duty tax. The index can be used to order documents that give a brief abstract of the will and details on the duty. It can be used as a make-shift probate index.

Montgomeryshire Land & Property Records

This vital collection details almost 1.2 million properties eligible for land tax. Records include the name of the landowner, occupier, amount assessed and sometimes the name and/or description of the property. It is a useful starting point for locating relevant estate records and establishing the succession of tenancies and freehold. Most records cover 1798, but some extend up to 1811.

Poll books record the names of voters and the direction of their vote. Until 1872 only landholders could vote, so not everyone will be listed. Useful for discerning an ancestor's political leanings and landholdings. The collection is supplemented with other records relating to the vote.

A rich collection of records documenting those who worked for railway companies that were later absorbed by the government. Records include: staff registers, station transfers, pensions, accident records, apprentice records, caution books, and memos. Records may include date of birth, date of death and name of father.

Indexed medical journals from British ships containing personal and medical details of patients. The journals list names, ages, rank/status, diseases, illness duration and notes on symptoms and treatment. Contains details on military men as well as people immigrating or being deported to colonies.

This collection gives brief details on the appointment of over 1.4 million people who worked for the Post Office. Includes references to corresponding data in the Postmaster General’s minute books and is a starting point for research in the rich archive of the British Postal Museum.

A name index connected to digital images of registers recording millions of children educated in schools operated by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. Records contain a variety of information including genealogical details, education history, illnesses, exam result, fathers occupation and more.

A transcript of a vast scholarly work briefly chronicling the heritage, education and careers of over 150,000 Cambridge University students. This is a particularly useful source for tracing the ancestry of the landed gentry.

A searchable database of linked genealogies compiled from thousands of reputable and not-so-reputable sources. Contains many details on European gentry & nobility, but covers many countries outside Europe and people from all walks of life.

A searchable database of linked genealogies compiled from thousands of reputable and not-so-reputable sources. Contains many details on European gentry & nobility, but covers many countries outside Europe and people from all walks of life.

Index and original images of over 5 million medal index cards for British soldiers It can be searched by individual's name, Coprs, Unit and Regiment. Due to the loss of many WWI service records, this is the most complete source for British WWI soldiers

Montgomeryshire Immigration & Travel Records

A name index connected to original images of passenger lists recording people travelling from Britain to destinations outside Europe. Records may detail a passenger's age or date of birth, residence, occupation, destination and more.

A full index of passenger lists for vessels arriving in the UK linked to original images. Does not include lists from vessels sailing from European ports. Early entries can be brief, but later entries may include dates of births, occupations, home addresses and more. Useful for documenting immigration.

A list of over 40,000 passengers traveling from North America to the British Isles. Details of passengers may include: occupation, nationality, gender, age, martial status, class, destination, and details of the vessel they sailed on.

An un-indexed collection of over 100,000 documents of correspondence and other documents of the Home Office and the Aliens Office. Contains a great deal of information on aliens and those who applied for naturalisation.

A transcript of a vast scholarly work briefly chronicling the heritage, education and careers of over 150,000 Cambridge University students. This is a particularly useful source for tracing the ancestry of the landed gentry.

A directory containing lengthy biographies of noted British figures. The work took over two decades to compile. Biographies can be searched by name and are linked to images of the original publication.

A sprawling website setting out and describing the historical divisions of Britain. Also contains countless maps of various sorts. Covers the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man & has fleeting details of other localities.

Montgomeryshire Information

Historical Description

Montgomeryshire is bounded on the north by Merionethshire and Denbighshire, on the north-east and east by Shropshire, the south by Cardiganshire and Radnorshire, likewise Cardiganshire, with a part of Merionethshire, on the west. It extends 40 miles in length, and 37 in breadth, and contains acres of land, having about 60, 000 arable, pasturage, and about 250, 000 uncultivated, including woodlands. It is divided into nine hundreds, viz. Cawrse, Deuddwr, Llanvyllin, Llanidloes, Machynlleth, Mathraval, Montgomery, Newtown, and Pool; containing 7 market-towns, 47 parishes, 9349 houses, and 51, 931 inhabitants. It sends two members to parliament, and lies in the dioceses of St. Asaph, Bangor, and Hereford.

The air is mild and salubrious, but the county is barren and mountainous in many parts, yet perhaps affords a greater variety of fertile vale and plain than most of our Welsh counties.

The riches of Montgomeryshire proceed from its sheep, wool, and flannels, with other coarse cloth manufactured from this annual produce; for the hills are almost entirely sheep-walks, while the farms, situate in small vallies, appear only appendages for their winter habitations and provision. The manufactures are collected through the county, once or twice a year, and sent to Welsh Pool, whence in a rough state they are carried to Shrewsbury, to be finished and exported; which, traffic Dyer describes thus:

The northern Cambrians, an industrious tribe, Carry their labours on Pygmean steeds,

Of size exceeding not Leicestrian sheep,

Yet strong and sprightly: over hill and dale They travel unfatigued, and lay their bales In Salop’s streets, beneath whose lofty walls Pearly Sabrina waits them with her barks,

And spreads the swelling sheet. Fleece.

This county also affords mineral treasures, particularly a rich lead-mine at Llanganog, in the northern angle, and near it a large slate quarry; but coals are no where to be found within the county, consequently the inhabitants are obliged to use wood or peat as a substitute. A considerable part, particularly the vallies and level tracts, are well-watered by many brooks and rivulets, and some rivers, of which the Severn is the principal; to these might be added some large streams, as the Firnwy and Taned, remarkable for a variety of fish, particularly salmon, which penetrate up the Severn almost to Plinlimmon.

— Topography of Great Britain, written: 1802-29 by George Alexander Cooke

MONTGOMERYSHIRE, an inland county of North Wales, is bounded on the south-east, east, and north-east by the county of Salop and a small detached portion of Denbighshire, on the north by Denbighshire, on the north-west and west by Merionethshire, on the southwest by Cardiganshire, and on the south by Radnorshire.

Montgomeryshire at the time of the Roman invasion was, in common with nearly all the rest of North Wales, included in the territory of the Ordovices; later, on the division of the sovereignty of North Wales towards the end of the ninth century, it formed part of the Kingdom of Powys; this kingdom, after the Norman Conquest, became an object of attack to the foreign adventurers, and one of them named Baldwyn, having partially subjected the district, built a fortress at the present town of Montgomery, then called by the Welsh “Tre Valdwyn,” or “Baldwyn’s Town”; the castle, however, appears to have soon fallen into the possession of the Welsh, since Roger de Montgomery entered Powys-land a few years later and took the castle and town of Tre Valdwyn, which he fortified anew and gave to it his own name of Montgomery, which it has ever since retained and communicated to the county.

The county is irregular in form and extends from Llyn Penrhaiadr, on the western border, to Hissington, near its eastern extremity, for a distance of 37 miles; the distance from Trinr-y-Sarn mountain, on the northern border, to Dirvel, at its southernmost point, is 36 miles; the total area is 510,111 acres. A great portion of the county consists of wild and sterile mountains. The Plinlimmon, or southern range of mountains, commences on the north-east with the Breidden hills, and includes the Long Mountains as far as Nant Cribba, and hence, by Montgomery, along the Kerry hills to the the Llangurig mountains, terminating with Plinlimmon, summit of which rises to an altitude of 2,463 feet; this is surrounded by various other heights of less elevation, of which the Biga mountains form a line of high tableland; the range extending from Plinlimmon northward between Llanbrynmair and Carno, and by Llyn Gwyddior into Merionethshire, forms the parting ridge between the rivers flowing eastward and those taking a contrary direction. The principal rivers are the Severn, with its tributaries the Vyrnwy and Tanat, all of which descend eastward from the mountain ridge running across the western part of the county, and the Dovey, flowing westward from the same ridge; the Wye also has its source on the southern side of Plinlimmon in this county, and pursuing a south-easterly course by Llangurig, enters Radnorshire south of that place. The Severn has its source on the eastern side of Plinlimmon, and, descending in a mountain torrent, it passes eastward through the narrow vale of Glyn Havren, being joined in its course by the small streams Backwy and Glaslyn, and also, near Llanidloes, by the Clywedog; thence, continuing to the north-east, it flows through Newtown, receiving the water of many small rivulets in its course, to Welshpool; and at Pool Quay, a little below that town, it becomes navigable, and, gradually assuming an easterly course, flows onward in a deep bed until, being joined from the north-west by the Vyrnwy, which rises in the vicinity of Bwlch-y-Vedwen, near the confines of Merionethshire, and its tributary the Tanat from the Berwyn mountains, it enters the county of Salop. The Dovey, descending from the foot of Arran Fowddwy, in Merionethshire, enters the county by Aber Angell, and flows in a south-westerly direction through a valley to Machynlleth, when it forms the western boundary of the county, which it wholly quits on being joined by a small stream from the heights around Plinlimmon. The Montgomeryshire canal enters the county north of Llandysilio, and proceeds along the Severn valley to Welshpool, and thence by Berriew and Garthmill to Newtown, where it terminates.

The railways in Montgomeryshire almost wholly form part of the Cambrian Company’s system; the main line enters the county at its north-eastern extremity, a short distance from Llanmynech station, on the confines of Salop, whence there is a branch westward to Llanfyllin by way of Llansaintffraid, Llanfechain, and Bryngwyn; the line takes a south-westerly direction, and is joined at Buttington, 2 ½ miles north-east of Welshpool by a joint line of the London and North-Western and Great Western railways from Shrewsbury to Welshpool; continuing from this place, in close proximity to the course of the river Severn through Montgomery Abermule (a short branch here to Kerry and Newtown), Moat Lane Junction is reached, when the railway sweeps to the north-west and passes through Caersws, Pontdolgoch, Carno, and Llanbrynmair to Cemmes road, the change-station for the Mawddwy railway, which runs northwards to Dinas Mawddwy, in Merionethshire; again taking a south-westerly direction the line runs through Machynlleth, and passes out of the county a short distance from Glan Dovey station. Machynlleth is the change-station for the Corris railway, and from Glan Dovey a branch runs to the seaside resorts of Aberytswith and Borth. From Moat Lane Junction a branch to the south passes through Llandinam, Dolwen, and Llanidloes into Radnorshire. The county of Montgomery is brought in direct communication with the systems of the London and North-Western and Great Western railways by the Shrewsbury and Welshpool joint line, which connects with the Cambrian railway at Buttington and Welshpool. The Corris railway is a narrow-gauge line from Machynlleth; it crosses the river Dovey into Merionethshire about a mile north of Machynlleth. The Mawddwy railway is a short line from Cemmes Road station on the Cambrian main line, running northwards through Cemmes and Aberangell, where it crosses into Merionethshire, to Dinas Mawddwy.

The principal commerce of Montgomeryshire is the manufacture of flannel, which is produced in great quantities, the trade being mostly confined to the middle and southern part of the county, where many carding and spinning mills have been established on the various rivers; the chief seat of the trade is Newtown.

Montgomeryshire contains 69 civil parishes with par of one other, and is partly in the dioceses of Bangor, Hereford, and St. Asaph. The portion in Bangor diocese is within the archdeaconry of Merioneth, and is in the rural deaneries of Arwystli, Cyfeiliog, and Estimaner. The portion in Hereford diocese is within the archdeaconry of Ludlow, and is in the rural deaneries of Clun, Pontesbury, and Montgomery. The portion in St. Asaph is within the archdeaconry of Montgomery, and in the rural deaneries of Coedwen, Caereinon, Llanfyllin, Oswestry, and Pool. The county is in the North Wales Division of the North and South Wales and Chester Circuit, and has one court of quarter sessions, and is divided into fourteen petty sessional divisions. The borough of Welshpool has a separate commission of the peace, but no separate court of quarter sessions. Welshpool is the seat of the assizes, and quarter sessions are held there alternately with Newtown. The municipal boroughs are: Llanfyllin, population in 1891, 1,753; Llanidloes, 2,574; Montgomery, 1,098; and Welshpool, 6,501. Other market towns are: Llanfair, Caereinion, Machynlleth, and Newtown.

The registration districts are:

No

Name

Area

Population in 1891

613

Machynlleth

128,764

10,826

614

Newtown

176,157

21,722

615

Forden

89,738

16,313

616

Llanfyllin

195,187

18,436

Montgomery County Council

Local Government Act, 1888, 51 & 52 Viet. c. 41.

Under the above Act, Montgomeryshire, after the 1st April 1889, for the purposes of the Act, became an administrative county (sec. 46), governed by a County Council, consisting of chairman, aldermen, and councillors (the number of councillors being determined by the Local Government Board), to be elected in manner prescribed by the Act (sec. 2).

The chairman shall, by virtue of his office, be a justice of the peace for the county, without qualification (sec. 46).

The police for the county are under the control of a standing joint committee of the Quarter Sessions and the County Council, appointed as therein mentioned (sec. 9).

The coroners for the county are elected by the County Council, and the clerk of the peace appointed by such joint committee, and may be removed by them (sec. 83-2).

The clerk of the peace for the county is also the clerk of the County Council (sec. 83-1).

The administrative business of the county (which would, if this Act had not been passed, have been transacted by the justices) is transacted by the County Council.

Meet at Newtown.

The following Table shows the acreage under each kind of crop & the number of cattle, horses, sheep & pigs in Montgomeryshire, as taken from the Agricultural Returns, 1893: